"I'm home."
Upon arriving back at home, Daichi was met with the smiling faces of his mother and father. The grim mood he was in throughout the trip seemed to fade away as he saw the people who cared about him above all else.
"Dinners will be ready shortly Daichi dear, go take your bag to your room." Yuki said, a bright smile on her features.
"Mmm."
He made his way up the stairs and into his room, only to see the door slightly ajar.
Raising his eyebrow in question, Daichi peered his head in only to see Ken sitting on his bed and staring at the door.
"Come sit." Ken said, not even saying his greetings.
Daichi felt a rise of annoyance out of nowhere at his brother's actions. He had half a mind to just ignore him and head back down the stairs, but he stopped himself.
'Why am I reacting like this?' He thought, self reflecting.
Ken hadn't even done anything wrong, merely asking him to take a seat. There was a few moments of silence before he did as he was told, placing his bags on the ground and taking a seat.
"So? What's going on?"
Daichi paused, feeling incredulous. Was he so easy to see through that his brother knew something was wrong without so much as a word?
"Haaahhh." He let out a deep sigh.
"I got taken off the starting team today." Daichi said, his tone full of resignation.
Ken remained silent, waiting for his brother to continue on with the story. A coach of Narukami's caliber was not someone who would do such a thing without a reason.
Not hearing a response or even consolation from Ken, Daichi looked at him with question.
"What? You're not gonna try and comfort me?" He asked.
"Tell me what you did first." Ken replied succinctly.
Daichi felt his anger rise as he quickly stood up from the bed.
"What the hell man!? Are you here to nitpick and judge me as well?"
Ken was a little taken aback by the reaction, but he managed to keep a composed expression. It was clear that tensions were high, but he didn't want to show any weakness.
"Daichi, you're my brother and best friend. You know that I'd go to war for you if you were mistreated. All I'm asking is for you to tell me the full story." He stated calmly.
Daichi froze, realizing his mistake. He had automatically gone on the defensive, even though his brother hadn't attacked him or anything.
He felt rather embarrassed, but slowly went and sat back down on the bed. He explained what had happened at practice and told Ken what words he'd said and received from the coach.
Apart from leaving out a few minute details, it seemed rather believable.
Ken nodded, processing all of the information he'd been told. He understood that Daichi was going through a lot right now since it had only been around 2 weeks since the wake.
"Haaahh." Now it was Ken's turn to sigh.
Without warning he leaned back on the bed and laid his head down, staring at the ceiling.
"So? What do you think, pretty stupid right?" Daichi stated.
"Mmm, very stupid…"
"Right? So help me convince Mom and Dad to compla—"
"I was talking about you." Ken said, cutting him off abruptly.
"Eh!? Me?" Daichi's face morphed into one of annoyance, feeling a hint of betrayal inside.
In his mind, the coach was just picking on him for some stupid reason. The old man's pride was well known to be a problem, at least from what he'd heard around the school.
Yet it was this victim mentality that was holding Daichi back from the real issue.
Ken sat up, meeting his brother's annoyed gaze head on. He had never seen Daichi truly act like a moody teenager before now, but this just showed that he was still human.
"Do you consider yourself a role model?" Ken asked simply.
"Role model? No… Why would I think that?" Daichi almost balked as he replied instinctively.
"Mmm… Me neither."
"Huh?"
Daichi looked at Ken with confusion. Just what kind of point was his brother trying to make?
"Think about what you've accomplished. You said it yourself earlier. You just won Koshien and brought back the Asian Championship, not to mention the U18 World Cup the year before." Ken stated matter-of-factly.
"What's your point?"
Ken let out a sigh, placing his hand on Daichi's shoulder. "My point, little bro… Is that even if you don't see yourself as a role model, it doesn't mean that you aren't."
He knew firsthand what it was like to be held in such high regard by someone. The picture of the blond youth Michael over in America was the first person that came to mind.
Yet even more recent was Mamoru in his own team. Today he had realized just how much of an impact his actions had on his teammates.
Though Daichi may still be young, a lot of players looked up to him as the shining example of what to strive for. He was the embodiment of hard work begets success, yet he couldn't see it.
Daichi was quiet, busy contemplating his brother's words. Is this what the coach was trying to tell him?
He furrowed his brow before responding, "What if I don't want to be a role model…"
"What if I just don't want to play baseball anymore?"
Ken felt a shock run through his body at those words, almost not believing his ears. His initial instinct was to flip out, however he managed to reign it in. He had a feeling that reacting to such a statement would only have the opposite effect he wanted.
"Do you really mean that?"
Daichi didn't answer, choosing to lay back on the bed and face the ceiling in silence.
The two didn't speak for a couple of minutes, leading to a strained atmosphere.
"I don't know man… I just don't enjoy it anymore."